The 10 Most Expensive Yixing Zisha Teapots Ever Sold at Auction
Yixing zisha (purple clay) teapots have been prized by Chinese scholars and collectors for nearly five hundred years. In that long and brilliant tradition, a small number of masterpieces have risen far above the rest, not only for their craftsmanship, but for the prices they command when they appear at auction. Below are the ten most expensive Yixing zisha teapots on record.
Two names dominate this list: Chen Mingyuan (陈鸣远), the celebrated early Qing dynasty potter whose organic and archaic-inspired forms set a standard for later generations, and Gu Jingzhou (顾景舟, 1915–1996), widely regarded as the “Tai Shan of teapot art” in modern China. Their works account for all ten entries.
10. Chen Mingyuan “Dingmao” Zhuni Teapot
Sold at Xiling Yinshe, Spring 2022
RMB 27.6 million (≈ USD 4.11 million)
This small zhuni (cinnabar clay) teapot was made by Chen Mingyuan 陈鸣远 in the Dingmao year of the Kangxi 康熙 reign (1687) for the scholar-official Yang Zhongne (杨中讷, courtesy name Qimu / 耑木). The inscription reads: “Made for Mr. Qimu, on the Shangyuan Festival of the Dingmao year. Chen Yuan.” The teapot carries both impressed seals (“Chen Mingyuan,” “Hu Yin”) and a carved signature (“Chen Yuan”).
It is accompanied by a zitan wood box bearing multiple collector seals and inscriptions by Gong Xinzhao (龚心钊), one of its modern owners. The box records a remarkable provenance: the teapot passed through the hands of Yang Zhongne, Zhu Lanting, Wu Dacheng, the He Shaoji family, Chu Deyi, Jing Hengyi’s cousin, Qian Chongfu, Chen Weiquan, then into Japan (Eirakuken and Kawase Saiichi), and finally back to China into the Gong family collection. Gong Xinzhao noted that the teapot entered his possession exactly 240 years after the original Dingmao year, another Dingmao year, making the acquisition a kind of historical echo.
9. Gu Jingzhou “Hufan” Shipiao Teapot
Sold at Beijing Dongzheng, Spring 2015 ,
RMB 28.175 million (≈ USD 4.20 million)
This shipiao (stone gourd) shaped teapot was a collaboration between Gu Jingzhou and two of the most distinguished artists of twentieth-century China. One side features a painting of a lone sparrow on a snow-laden plum branch by Wu Hufan (吴湖帆), with the inscription “For Brother Hufan to correct.” The reverse carries a carved line of poetry, “Chewing plum blossoms, the snow-foam fragrance is fine”, inscribed by Jiang Hanting (江寒汀), who painted the teapot for Gu and asked him to add the calligraphy.
Wu Hufan (1894–1968) was a grandson of the Qing scholar-artist Wu Dacheng and a leading modern painter and connoisseur, known for his “boneless” (mogu) lotus paintings. In 1948, Gu Jingzhou made five shipiao teapots; he kept one and gave the other four to Dai Xiangming, Jiang Hanting, Tang Yun, and Wu Hufan. This is one of those five.
8. Gu Jingzhou “Nine-Piece Ode to Plum” Tea Set
Sold at China Guardian, Spring 2014 ,
RMB 28.75 million (≈ USD 4.28 million)
Gu Jingzhou’s output consisted mainly of single teapots; matched sets with cups are comparatively rare. This nine-piece set comprises one teapot, four cups, and four saucers, a configuration described in the auction catalogue as “exceedingly precious.”
Gu placed extraordinary emphasis on traditional pure handcraft: from pounding the clay by hand to arranging the kiln and overseeing the firing, he insisted on doing everything himself, without shortcuts. For a set of this complexity, one clay body, one fire, one standard across nine pieces, the time and mental energy he invested were surely greater than for any single teapot.
7. Chen Mingyuan “Plain Belt” Teapot
Sold at Beijing Poly, Spring 2015 ,
RMB 31.625 million (≈ USD 4.71 million)
This early Qing teapot has a body approaching spherical, tapering gently from top to bottom, with a full, rounded profile, fluent lines, and a deep, mellow patina. It has a domed cover with a pearl finial, a short curved spout, an ear-shaped handle, and three petal-form feet rising naturally from the base. A single plain belt of clay is applied around the waist, understated, elegant, and expressive of a “plain and unadorned” aesthetic. The mark “Chen Mingyuan” in regular script, together with a seal-script seal, appears beneath the spout on the belly of the pot.
The teapot is recorded in Pang Yuanji’s Xu Zhai Ming Tao Tu Lu (虚斋名陶图录), where Pang explains that Chen delighted in adapting ancient ritual bronzes into teapots. This piece, he notes, follows the form of a he (盒), an ancient seasoning vessel described in the Shuowen as having a spout, much like a tea kettle. Pang praises the “antique simplicity” of the plain belt and observes that while Chen’s work is generally admired for its technical finesse, this teapot, in purple-black sand, wins admiration purely through its quiet elegance.
6. Chen Mingyuan “Pumpkin” Teapot
Sold at China Guardian, Spring 2016 ,
RMB 32.2 million (≈ USD 4.80 million)
This teapot is a triumph of kiln harmony: the firing was just right, and the clay, a fine, sandy body, glows with a reddish-brown, moist lustre, its surface holding light softly within. The body is divided into seven lobes, each line full and lustrous, with a lingering resonance of form. A curled leaf forms the spout, its opening utterly natural; a twisted vine becomes the handle, winding with fluency; and a melon stem serves as the finial, neat and lively. The cover is inset (“embedded-cover” type). On the face of the melon body is carved the line “Bone pure, flesh rich, harmonious and upright” , drawn from a poem by Su Shi, signed “Mingyuan.” The calligraphy moves with elegance and vigour, carrying the flavour of Jin and Tang masters.
5. Gu Jingzhou “Flat Belly” Teapot
Sold at Beijing Dongzheng, Spring 2018 ,
RMB 34.5 million (≈ USD 5.14 million)
This teapot has a flat, rounded belly, a short spout, a circular handle, and a nipple-form cover finial. The body carries a painting by Fan Zeng 范曾, together with a line from Tao Yuanming’s “Returning Home”: “Rejoice in Heaven’s decree, what is there to doubt?” The combination of painting and poetry adds a layer of literary intimacy to an already refined form.
4. Chen Mingyuan “Transmitting Fragrance” Teapot
Sold at Shanghai Poly, inaugural sale, 2016 ,
RMB 34.5 million (≈ USD 5.14 million)
The base of this teapot is incised with the line “What makes my breast transmit fragrance is books” , a quotation from the Song poet Huang Tingjian’s tea poem “Thanks for Sending Yayuan Picked Buds from the Mill.” The full couplet reads: “Stirring and churning ten years of lamp-lit study, / What makes my breast transmit fragrance is books.”
The body is formed with interior ridges, a technique that “preserves the spirit while discarding the outward form.” Chen moves beyond the thick, archaic manner into a slender-boned, elegant vigour. The spout is a broken-stroke arc that retains a sense of roundness, set against a square handle to create a round-versus-square contrast. The teapot is at once “round within square” and capable of “transforming round into square”, a square teapot that fuses antiquity and innovation, made at the high noon of Chen Mingyuan’s artistic powers.
3. Gu Jingzhou “Tang Yun” Shipiao Teapot
Sold at Jiangsu Hexin, Autumn 2015,
RMB 42.56 million (≈ USD 6.34 million)
This shipiao teapot pairs Gu Jingzhou’s potting with the painting and calligraphy of Wu Hufan. One side shows “Rhythm of Bamboo” , signed “Hufan.” The reverse is carved with the couplet “With no guests, all day is still; / When there is wind, the whole night is cool,” inscribed “For Brother Yaocheng by Wu Qian, with inscription.”
“Brother Yaocheng” is Tang Yun (唐云, 1910–1993), the Hangzhou-born painter and celebrated collector of Man Sheng teapots. Tang Yun’s studio names included “Da Shi Zhai” (Studio of the Great Stone) and “Shan Lei Xuan”; in his later years, his renowned “Eight Teapots Studio” (八壶精舍) reflected his passion for collecting.
2. Gu Jingzhou “Lifting Jade” (Tibi) Teapot Set
Sold at Baohexin, Autumn 2016 ,
RMB 45 million (≈ USD 6.70 million)
The tiliang (overhead-handle) teapot is traditionally attributed to Su Shi. Its rounded, upright form, its cleverly empty overhead handle, and its precisely judged proportions have made it beloved by later generations.
Gu Jingzhou’s version is called the “Tibi” (Lifting Jade) teapot because the cover resembles an ancient jade bi disc, while the handle rises overhead. The form is built almost entirely from subtle curves. It is often described as uniting five beauties, material, craft, content, form, and function, and as possessing spirit, energy, and resonance in full measure: a peerless work among teapots.
1.Gu Jingzhou “Squirrel and Grape” Ten-Piece Tea Set
Sold at Beijing Dongzheng, Autumn 2015 ，
RMB 92 million (≈ USD 13.70 million)
The most expensive Yixing zisha teapot ever sold at auction is this monumental ten-piece set by Gu Jingzhou. In 1955, Gu made it in response to a custom order from the Great Hall of the People, as a gift in tribute to the new China.
It is one of the few “flower-ware” (huahuo) works in Gu’s oeuvre, pieces that model natural forms, and a masterpiece within that already select group. The teapot body is unusually large, with a capacity of 1,400 cc. The set comprises one teapot, one sugar bowl, four cups, and four saucers, ten pieces in total, with cups and saucers matched as sets. The sugar bowl, whose form reflects a degree of Western influence, is a further highlight.
The cups and dishes are full-bodied and generously potted; the workmanship is mature and masterly. The branches forming the cover, handle, and spout have real momentum, while the squirrels and grapes are rendered with minute refinement and abundant life. The composition is well-ordered, creating a scene of ease and natural companionship, an image overflowing with vitality.
The Market in Perspective
These ten results sketch a market in which museum-quality Yixing zisha has moved from the scholar’s desk into the highest tier of the international art auction. Gu Jingzhou’s “Squirrel and Grape” set, at roughly USD 13.7 million, stands at the summit; even the tenth-place teapot, at roughly USD 4.1 million, represents a sum that would have been unimaginable for a clay teapot a generation ago. For collectors and observers alike, the message is clear: the finest Yixing zisha is no longer merely a connoisseur’s pleasure, it is a blue-chip asset in the global art market.
Prices converted at 1 USD = 6.7152 RMB (central parity, November 13, 2026). RMB figures are the hammer prices as reported by the auction houses; they may not include buyer’s premium unless otherwise stated.
written by siyutao art team
